The Electric Vehicle industry is gaining pace in the 21st century at a market value of $163.01 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $823.75 billion by 2030 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.2% between 2024 to 2030. Electric vehicles such as electric scooters, electric cars are designed as an alternative to petrol or diesel-powered vehicles that lead to environmental pollution at extreme levels. The electric vehicles operate purely on electricity, here the electric vehicle (EV) is propelled by the rotational force generated by the motor that demands a constant supply of electric energy to produce a continuous movement. The powerful battery embedded in the vehicle supplies sufficient electric power to the motor. There are various batteries designs available in the market that operate on specific technology among them lithium ion-based design is widely used due to its acceptable properties.
Factors such as soaring fuel prices, rise in the emission level, and changes in the policies by the Ministry of Road Transport are compelling people to shift towards an alternative vehicle and EVs are the suitable ones.
With the numerous technological advancements with the help of the electronics and the IoT industry in recent years, the electric vehicle industry has gained significant popularity. Compared to conventional petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, EVs are outperforming them providing very low running cost, smooth driving experience, negligible sound and vibration, zero emission, and least maintenance. Although electric vehicles outperform conventional vehicles the price tag is higher than petrol or diesel-based vehicles. The factors such as high manufacturing cost, lack of charging infrastructure, short vehicle range per charge, and lack of technicians available for the service are the obstacles to the growth of the EV market.
Common people with an average household income find it challenging to shift toward electric technology vehicles because EVs are expensive. A brand new electric scooter costs at least 1.6 times higher than a brand new petrol scooter.
But there is good news, Engineers have developed a concept of a retrofit model of an electric scooter. A retrofit electric scooter is a petrol to electric converted scooter using petrol to the electric scooter conversion kit. This concept is gaining popularity, especially in India due to the low conversion cost. Starya Mobility is a pioneer in retrofit electric conversion in Bangalore offering a patented EV Conversion Kit that saves money and increases the sustainability of the transport system. People need not have to spend more on buying a brand new electric scooter instead they can opt for the conversion of their existing petrol scooter to electric. The petrol to electric conversion kit is promising and a game-changer in the EV industry helping common people access electric vehicle technology.
How Retrofit Electic Conversion save cost?
Converting your existing petrol scooter into an electric scooter helps you to save a lot of money. With a retrofit model, your scooter is converted into a purely electric scooter by compromising some premium features of the latest electric scooters. The running cost is cut at least 4 times compared to the running cost of the petrol scooter. Let us see how
For petrol scooter:
A brand new 125cc petrol scooter costs around ₹1,00,000/- at the showroom. Assuming the price of petrol at ₹100 per liter and mileage of petrol scooter is 30 Kmpl. The per kilometer running cost is close to ₹3.33.
Assuming this petrol scooter travels 2000 Kms in a month then its monthly running cost is close to ₹6,666.66 and yearly running cost is ₹80,000/-
For retrofit scooter:
The retrofit electric propulsion kit(EPK) costs ₹65,000 including battery and ₹35,000 excluding battery.
A full single charge battery has a propulsion range of 75 Km. Assuming ₹5 per unit of electricity consumed in charging the battery, the approximate cost for recharging a 100 Km range battery is ₹75. So calculating the running cost or the retrofit EPK with a battery of ₹65,000 we get the running cost for an electric scooter as ₹0.92 per Kilometer which is 3.62 times lower than the running cost of a petrol scooter.
The yearly running cost of a retrofit electric scooter model with EPK+Battery is ₹4,080/- which gives an annual saving of about ₹72,000/-.
Your yearly spending on a new petrol scooter is the total initial cost of around ₹1,00,000/- plus road taxes plus running cost of around ₹80,000/-(for 2000 Kms distance in a month) which is close to ₹2,00,000/-.while your yearly spend on converting your existing petrol scooter to electric is ₹65,000/- plus ₹4,080/- only which is less than ₹70,000/-.
The above figure implies that a retrofit electric scooter cuts your vehicle and operating cost by 4 times for the first year. From the second year, you will save rapidly in terms of running costs compared to a petrol scooter.
Benefits of retrofit electric scooter conversion:
- The process is not time-consuming, your old petrol scooter can be easily converted into an electric scooter within a single day.
- The electric scooter becomes affordable due to its low price.
- A 5 KW electric motor gives the same performance as a 125 cc IC petrol engine.
- The best alternative to buying a new electric scooter that comes with a higher price tag.
- The overall running cost is cut down by at least 4 times.
- As your petrol scooter gets old, the mileage drops and emits more gases, and requires more maintenance but with retrofit, you eliminate all these and make a big difference.
- Your scooter gets lighter and silent in operation.
- Your scooter gets a green-colored number plate.
- With an electric vehicle say HELLO to mother nature.
The conversion process:
In the first step of conversion, the internal combustion petrol engine, fuel tank, and silencer are removed and are replaced electric propulsion kit and a powerful battery. The circuit is completed with proper waterproof wiring besides other modifications.
Later the scooter is tested with rated load and the characteristics of the motor are observed, if its characteristic properties match the ideal motor characteristics then the motor is certified and passed.
The scooter is now ready for usage, it can reach a top speed of 75 Kmph and impressive acceleration from 0 to 40 Kmph within 3.7 seconds.
